Bond

OMG, I just love stories like this…   “The name is Bond. James Bond.”

Fans of the iconic <and seemingly never-ending> Albert/Cubby Broccoli series of British spy movies will not only recognize the line itself, but will hear it in their heads complete with full Sean Connery / Roger Moore / Timothy Dalton / Pierce Brosnan / Daniel Craig inflection.

Bonus question:  Name one other actor  – besides the ones listed – to have played Bond in the movies.  Hint: The movie was “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.”  Prize for the first correct answer is a free subscription to dewconsulting.net/blog.  Oh, no, wait, that’s already free.  OK then, the prize will be the satisfaction of knowing you know more than the average Bear about Bond – James Bond.  <Truth to tell:  Perhaps you know a bit too much?  But I digress.>

But back to This Day In History, 1976 – The Concorde Takes Off.  For Bond fans, this story has literally everything.  And if you don’t believe me, read on… if you dare.

 

Cool Technology

 

At their cruising speeds, the innovative Concordes flew well over the sound barrier at 1,350 miles an hour.  This cut air travel time by more than half.  The flights were the culmination of a 12-year effort that pitted English and French engineers against their counterparts in the USSR.  In 1962, 15 years after U.S. pilot Chuck Yeager first broke the sound barrier, Britain and France signed a treaty to develop the world’s first supersonic passenger airline. The next year, President John F. Kennedy proposed a similar U.S. project. Meanwhile, back in the USSR, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev ordered his top aviation engineers to beat the West to the achievement.

There were immense technical challenges in building a supersonic airliner. Engines would need to be twice as powerful as those built for normal jets.  The aircraft’s frame would have to withstand immense pressure from shock waves and endure high temperatures caused by air friction. In the United States, Boeing tackled the supersonic project but soon ran into trouble with its swing-wing design. In England and France, however, early results were much more promising.

 

Cold War Intrigue

 

In 1965, the French arrested Sergei Pavlov, head of the Paris office of the Soviet airliner Aeroflot, for illegally obtaining classified information about France’s supersonic project. Another high-level Soviet spy remained unknown, however, and continued to feed the Soviets information about the Concorde until his arrest in 1977.

On December 31, 1968, just three months before the first scheduled flight of the Concorde prototype, the fruits of Soviet industrial espionage were revealed when the Soviet’s TU-144 became the world’s first supersonic airliner to fly. The aircraft looked so much like the Concorde that the Western press dubbed it “Konkordski.”

 

Spectacular Crashes

 

In 1973 the TU-144 came to the West to appear alongside the Concorde at the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget airport. On June 3, in front of 200,000 spectators, the Concorde flew a flawless demonstration. Then it was the TU-144’s turn. The aircraft made a successful 360-degree turn and then began a steep ascent. Abruptly, it leveled off and began a sharp descent. Some 1,500 feet above the ground, it broke up from over-stress and came crashing into the ground, killing all six Soviet crew members and eight French civilians.

 

More Cold War Intrigue

 

Soviet and French investigators ruled that pilot error was the cause of the accident. However, in recent years, several of the Russian investigators have disclosed that a French Mirage intelligence aircraft was photographing the TU-144 from above during the flight. A French investigator confirmed that the Soviet pilot was not told that the Mirage was there, a breach of air regulations. After beginning his ascent, the pilot may have abruptly leveled off the TU-144 for fear of crashing into this aircraft. In the sudden evasive maneuver, the thrust probably failed.  The pilot then tried to restart the engines by entering a dive. He was too close to the ground, however, and tried to pull up too soon, thus over stressing the aircraft.  In exchange for Soviet cooperation in the cover-up, the French investigators agreed not to criticize the TU-144’s design or engineering.

 

The Post-Script

 

The Concorde was not a great commercial success, however. People complained bitterly about the noise pollution caused by its sonic booms and loud engines. Most airlines declined to purchase the aircraft.  Just 16 Concordes were built for British Airways and Air France. Service was eventually limited between London and New York and Paris and New York.  Still, luxury travelers appreciated the less than four-hour journey across the Atlantic.

 

More Spectacular Crashes

 

On July 25, 2000, an Air France Concorde crashed 60 seconds after taking off from Paris en route to New York. All 109 people aboard and four on the ground were killed. The accident was caused by a burst tire that ruptured a fuel tank,  This created a fire that led to engine failure. The fatal accident – the first in Concorde’s history – signaled the decline of the aircraft. On October 24, 2003, the Concorde took its last regular commercial flight.

 

The Only Thing Missing?

 

Why, it’s the Bond Girls, of course.  Let it never be said we here at dewconsulting.net/blog leave you in the lurch.  A selection follows, one from each decade:  From Honey Ryder in the ’60’s, all the way to Severine some sixty years later.  Enjoy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just one question:

 

Why on earth was the Concorde never featured in a Bond film?

Hmmmm….  Sure seems like a natural fit to me!